Reckless Abandonment
by MNtoSoCal
Summary: "Give me the phone, Temperance," David threatened. Her resolve was starting to fade. David took the phone from her and brought it up to his ear. "Your services will no longer be required, Agent Booth." Will Booth save Bones from cult guy David? One shot.


**AN: I wrote this a couple of weekends ago, and it is the result of me spending the weekend in a highly creativity-charged environment, only to have it end horribly. Yeah, I was kinda in a dark mood. But it makes for a great story, in my completely unbiased opinion ;) As a side note, although I have done extensive research into cult life, I am only a communications major...not psychology, not sociology, not anthropology...so I have taken some liberties with this. Anyways, this is the first one-shot I have posted. I'm giving it a strong T rating. I hope y'all enjoy it :D**

**Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with, nor do I own, Bones. That privilege belongs to Hart Hanson and the lucky people who work at Fox.**

"You ran a background check on him!" Brennan yelled in outrage, letting the door slam behind her as she stormed into Booth's office. "That is a huge invasion of privacy, Booth!"

"I was looking out for you!" Booth said, equally as upset as Brennan. "That guy is no good! Do you have any idea what I found in his file?"

"No, Booth, I don't. But I can assure you that it's not as bad as you think it is, and he has probably already told me about it. David is a great guy," Brennan stated. "And for your information, he's told me all about his past; the time he spent in the foster system, the abuse from his father, and even about his time spent in a juvenile detention center for theft. None of that matters to me, Booth. He was a kid when he was arrested. He's an adult now, with no apparent psychotic tendencies."

"You knew he was arrested _and_ convicted of a felony, and you're still going to go out with him?" Booth asked in total shock.

"Yes, Booth," Brennan stated. "He is a great man. He works with the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence, and he has a good job. You should know better than anyone that just because a person has a rotten childhood and made some lousy decisions as a kid does not mean that they will turn out to be a dangerous criminal."

"I got a bad feeling about this guy, Bones. I'm trying to protect you! Please don't see him anymore," Booth pleaded, giving up all pretense of being angry in favor of his fear for his partner's safety.

"I don't need your protection, Booth. I can take care of myself." With that, Brennan stormed out from Booth's office to get ready for her date. She couldn't believe that Booth was being so unreasonable about the fact that David spent some time in a juvenile detention facility. David only stole a gun, and that was only to protect himself from his abusive father. He never even used the gun. And, let's face it, David has more than made up for it with his work with the Brady Campaign.

What gave Booth the right to tell her what she can/can't do, or who she should/shouldn't date? It's not like Booth had any feelings for her, beyond that of being a partner. Sure, on their first case they kissed and almost slept together, but since their big fight during that case things have been tense at best. Booth had made it abundantly clear that all that would ever be between them would be work. So, what gave him the right to try and control her personal life?

She couldn't believe that she let Booth get her so upset, or that she had given him the power to do so. She had a date with David in less than 2 hours, and she had gone from being thoroughly excited over it to being so upset that she didn't think she'd be able to enjoy the night. She decided she wasn't going to let thoughts of Booth ruin her night, anymore than they already had. Now, if only things worked out that way.

From the moment David knocked on her apartment door, Brennan found herself drawing comparisons to Booth. The first thing she noticed when she opened the door was that she didn't get that wonderful feeling in the pit of her stomach that she got every time she saw Booth standing outside of her door holding a box of takeout. Shaking off those irrational feelings that she didn't quite understand, she warmly greeted David with a kiss. She had yet to give herself completely over to him, in the physical sense anyway, and she hoped that tonight would be the night. Providing that she could keep thoughts about Booth at bay.

"Hi," David said with a goofy grin on his face. "I got something for you." He handed her a beautiful bouquet of flowers: White roses, dipped in blue, with a few violets added as an accent.

"David, they're beautiful. Thank you," she said as she took them from him. She walked into her kitchen to put them in a vase. As she was filling the vase with water, she looked back over to the flowers. No guy has ever really bought her flowers before. They really were beautiful, but roses and violets weren't her favorite type of flower. Booth would have brought her daisies and daffodils. He knew those were her favorites. Brennan immediately scolded herself for letting her thoughts drift back to her partner. She was standing in front of a great man, and she knew that David deserved her undivided attention. After carefully placing the flowers into the vase, she allowed David to escort her to his car.

The drive didn't take long, maybe about a half an hour. They were on their way to have dinner with some of David's friends that he had met through some of his various volunteer work against domestic violence. Brennan was nervous. This was the closet thing David had to a family, and she was worried about whether or not they would approve of her. Not that it mattered much if they approved, she was going to do what she wanted regardless. But it would be nice to know that the people closest to David would be supportive of their relationship.

They pulled into a dilapidated old farmhouse just outside of Potomac. The decrepit two-story house was set off the road, hidden by trees, shrubs, and other plant life that covered the 5 acre lot. The house was painted white with windows that were dirty and clouded from age, and the wood siding was starting to rot. The house was seemingly out of place in such an affluent town. Brennan smiled to herself as she thought about how Booth would make a ridiculous comment about how the house came straight out of a horror movie.

"Hey beautiful, what's so funny?" David asked, noticing the grin on Brennan's face.

Brennan shook her head. "It's nothing." She leaned over the center console and captured David's lips with her own.

"God, you are so good at that," David said as they broke their kiss. Brennan chuckled, flattered by his compliment. "You ready to go meet the family?" Brennan nodded her head and the two of them climbed out of the car.

Dinner was relatively pleasant and uneventful. Despite beginning the meal with a prayer, Brennan had found herself enjoying the night. She even didn't feel as socially awkward as she normally did. She even had quite a bit in common with David's friends. They had all come from a broken home, or have been abandoned at one point in their life. Brennan instantly formed a connection with the one other female present at dinner, Chiara. Chiara entered the foster system when she was 3 years old, where she stayed for 13 years. A few months ago, at age 16, Chiara ran away to start a new life and never looked back to her abuse-filled life inside the foster system.

"Temperance," Chiara said after taking one final bite of her meal. "How 'bout we go outside and see the horses, give the guys some time to catch up with each other."

"That sounds wonderful," Brennan replied. She leaned over to David and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I'll be back in a few minutes." She squeezed his arm before following Chiara out of the room.

After taking a few steps outside, the chilly autumn air got to Brennan. "Chiara, I think I'm going to go back inside to get my coat. It's much colder out here than I thought it would be."

"Oh, I can go get that for you," Chiara volunteered.

"No, I can get it. I'll only be a moment," Brennan said. She ran back up onto the porch and entered the old farmhouse. She walked over to the coat rack and grabbed her jacket. She could hear the men whispering in the background. They said something that caught her attention, so she decided to eavesdrop a little bit.

_"Do you think she's the one, sir?" one of the men asked._

_"Yeah, I do," she heard David reply. "But she's extremely independent. It'll be tricky finding a way to get her to stay."_

_"We could always force her," another man suggested._

_"No, I want her to _want _to stay here with us. We'll only use force as a last resort," David stated. _

She heard David get up from his seat. She panicked and quickly made her way outside, hoping that no one had seen or heard her. She couldn't believe everything she had just overheard. _Am I the one? What one? And why were they calling David 'sir'?_ Then she remembered the last part of the conversation. _Force? If I try to leave are they going to force me to stay? _

"Temperance...Temperance...Dr. Brennan!" Chiara's voice startled her from her thoughts. "Are you alright, Temperance?"

"I'm fine, Chiara," Brennan forced a smile at the young girl. "I guess I'm just a little bit more tired than I thought I was."

"You could always stay the night," Chiara suggested. "I'm sure the guys would be cool with that."

"Stay the night?" Brennan swallowed hard. Clearly this girl was in on whatever the guys were talking about. She decided to question the girl for answers. "Do you live here, then?"

"Yes," Chiara replied. "I met David when he was volunteering at a food shelter that I had stopped by to grab a meal at. We talked, I told him about my situation, and he hooked me up with a place to stay that would also give me meals, so long as I could help out a bit around the farm."

"That was very sweet of him," Brennan commented.

"Yeah, he's a great guy."

"So, how many people live here, on this farm?"

"Pretty much all of us, minus David," Chiara answered. "He lives in the city, but he stops by all the time."

"Are you the only female that lives here?" Brennan inquired.

Chiara nodded. "Yeah. Sometimes I wish I wasn't though. It's nice to have some girl time every now and then. That's why I'm glad you're here tonight. You really should stay over tonight. It'll be so much fun!"

The two girls continued walking towards the barn in silence. A few moments later, Brennan continued her line of questioning. "It's a bit secluded out here. Doesn't a young girl such as yourself ever get bored way out here?"

"No, not really. The guys give me plenty of work," Chiara said, almost sadly. All of the life and energy seemed to have drained from her face. "Not all of it is pleasant, but I get by. I just pretend I'm some place else. And no matter how bad it gets here, I know it's much better than where I came from."

"What kind of work do they make you do, exactly?" Brennan asked, although she feared she already knew the answer. One young girl and at least 6 guys living in one house, the answer definitely couldn't be good.

"Oh you know, this and that," Chiara gave her a vague answer. She walked over to the horse and started petting its neck. "Listen, David is going to ask you something when we head back inside. When he does, promise me you'll say yes."

"How can I make a promise like that when I don't even know what it's about?" Brennan threw her an uncomfortable smile.

"Hey, we should probably be heading back inside. I'm getting a little cold, and the guys are probably wondering whether or not we ran away." Chiara grabbed Brennan's arm and began leading her back towards the house.

Brennan reluctantly followed. _What have I gotten myself into? How could I not have seen this? I'm an anthropologist for crying out loud. I study cultures for a living! This is one of the first types of cultures you learn about in school. How could I have not seen that David was in a cult. Not just _in _a cult, but the _leader_ of the cult?_ She knew she needed to come up with a plan to escape, and quick.

"Temperance," David greeted her warmly as she entered the old house. "I was starting to think that Chiara, here, scared you away."

"David, hi," Brennan said. "She could never do that. She's a sweet kid." Brennan smiled over to Chiara. "Listen, I'm actually pretty tired. I had a long day at work today, and I have to go in early tomorrow. Do you think you could bring me home?"

"Well, I have the perfect solution. Why don't we just stay here for the night?"

"I don't have any of my things with me. And, like I said, I have to go in early tomorrow morning. It'd be best if I could just sleep at my place tonight." Brennan eyed one of the other men in the house move towards the door, blocking her exit. David took a step towards her, his face losing some of its kindness. Brennan needed to come up with a plan of escape. "You know, let me just go use the restroom, then we can get going."

David nodded. "Sure thing, Temperance. It's the first door on the right." He pointed towards the hallway on the opposite end of the room. Brennan slowly started to walk towards it, keeping an eye on the men in the room to ensure they didn't make a move to restrain her.

As soon as she entered the bathroom and locked the door, she walked over to the tiny window. It was small, almost too small for her to fit through. Upon closer examination, she noticed that it was nailed shut and that bars covered the glass. There was no way out. She was trapped, and the panic was starting to set in. She quickly pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and pressed number 1 on her speed dial. _Come on, Booth. Answer the phone._

After 3 long rings, Booth finally answered the phone. "Bones? What are you doing calling? Not that I'm not glad, but aren't you supposed to be on your date?"

"Booth," Brennan said with a shaky voice. Booth went instantly on alert, sensing the panic evident when she spoke.

"Bones? Bones, what's wrong?"

"I'm so sorry. You were right. Please come get me," she pleaded.

Booth chose to ignore the boost his ego got from hearing her admit that she was wrong, or rather that he was right. "Where are you?"

Brennan felt a rush of relief run through her. It lasted all of a few seconds. Brennan heard a light knock on the bathroom door. "Temperance? Temperance? Is everything alright? You've been in there for a while."

"Shit," she muttered softly to herself.

"Bones, what's wrong?" Booth asked as he hopped into his SUV. "Talk to me, Bones. Tell me where you are."

Brennan ignored Booth's comment for the moment. She thought it'd be better to respond to the man who she overheard threaten to hold her against her will. "I'm fine, David. I just need a few more minutes." She turned her attention back to Booth, lowering her voice so David wouldn't hear. "I'm about a half an hour outside of the city. Somewhere outside of Potomac, off the 190. I'm at an old farmhouse."

"I'm on my way," Booth said as he pulled his SUV out of the parking lot near his apartment building. "What happened, Bones?"

Before Brennan could answer, David's voice interrupted her again. "Temperance, open this door. I'm worried about you. Please open this door. Now."

"David, I told you I'm fine, and I'll be right out," Brennan replied. "I just need another minute to finish fixing my makeup."

"A _minute_, Bones? What the hell's gonna happen in a minute?" Booth asked as he turned on his lights and siren in order to more effectivelymaneuver through the evening traffic.

"Booth," Brennan whispered, "I need for you to get here as quickly as you possibly can. I should have seen it, Booth. How could I not have known?"

"Known what, Bones? Did he hurt you?" Booth listened as Brennan remained silent. "Because I'm gonna kill that bastard if he did."

"It's a cult, Booth. They're not going to let me leave. I overheard David tell his friends that if necessary, they'll use force to keep me here." At that moment, Brennan heard heavy pounding at the door. Instead of the light knocking from earlier, it sounded as if David was trying to break down the door.

"Bones, be careful," Booth said after hearing the sounds coming from her end of the line.

The bathroom door crashed open. David's dark, angry eyes searched the room until they landed on the phone in Brennan's hand. "What's this, Temperance? Who did you call?"

"David," Brennan said calmly, still holding the phone by her ear. She took a deep breath before continuing. "It's nothing. Work called. They need me to come into the lab right now. Could you drive me there?"

"Work called? Is that really what happened, Temperance?" David inquired, taking a few steps closer to Brennan. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"

"Yes," Brennan stated matter-of-factly. "Because it's true. They found the remains of a young boy. They need me to examine the body in order to conduct an investigation."

"You really are good, aren't you Temperance," David said in amusement. "I knew you were smart. You're very intelligent, Temperance. But you can't expect me to buy that. I know you overheard us. Chiara told me you had come back inside for your coat. Now tell me the truth. Who did you call?" He took another threatening step closer to Brennan.

"David, I think it would be best if you didn't come any closer to me," Brennan warned. Through the phone she heard Booth yelling at her to not agitate David any further.

"That's Agent Booth, isn't it Temperance?" David asked. "You're on a date with me. Meeting my friends, my family. And yet you feel the need to call another man?" David's anger was escalating with every word that came out of his mouth. "What could he possibly offer you that I can't, Temperance? We have so much in common. You belong here, with me. We've both been abandoned by those we thought loved us. We've both dealt with the pain brought on by the foster system. You're one of us, Temperance. Are you going to abandon us, just like your parents abandoned you?"

Brennan's resolve was beginning to fade. _Was David correct? Am I abandoning them, just like my parents abandoned me. I wouldn't do that. I'm not like my parents. He's right, I do belong with them. They understand what I've been through better than anyone else possibly could, including Booth._

"Bones, don't listen to him," Booth pleaded as he pushed the gas pedal all the way down, not caring that he was already going twice the speed limit. He needed to get to Brennan, and fast. "He's trying to manipulate you. Take away your independence, your free will. You are _not_ your parents, Bones. Trust me. Don't listen to what he's telling you. Bones, talk to me. Bones?"

"Give me the phone, Temperance," David said. "Trust me. You belong here. With people who understand you, who are just like you. Who would never abandon you because we know what that feels like, to be abandoned."

Brennan let the hand that was holding the phone drop to her side. David took a step closer and reached his hand out to take the phone from her. He brought the phone up to his ear. "Your services will no longer be required, Agent Booth." David hung up the phone and threw it onto the floor hard enough to pop the battery out, most likely breaking the phone.

"No. No, you're not like me," Brennan argued, tears falling from her eyes. "You don't want what's best for me. Booth is right, you just want to control me."

"You dare to mention his name again?" David's outraged voice echoed off the bathroom walls. "God brought you to me for a reason. You're mine, all mine. Agent Booth has always been trying to turn you against me, against God's plan for us. I will NOT let Agent Booth get in the way of us."

"I don't believe in God," Brennan replied, regaining some of her strength. "And even if I did, Booth told me that God believes in free will, which means I have the right to choose what I want, what I do with my life. And I don't want to be held captive here."

David's fury grew at her words. He backed her up against the wall. "That's not true, Temperance. God _gave_ you to me. To us." He gestured to the other men who were standing near the door. He placed his right hand on Brennan's cheek. She flinched at the contact of his rough hands on her tear-stained face. "The world is a cruel place, Temperance. I'm just trying to protect you from it. That's my job, to protect you. Because you're mine." He slid his hand down her body, over the swell of her breasts, the narrowness of her waist, and let it rest on the curve of her ass. He pulled her flush against him to emphasize his point. "Mine."

"I don't belong to anyone," Brennan protested as she struggled to free herself from his grip. She brought up her hand to slap him, but he anticipated her actions and grabbedboth of her hands, spinning her around so that she was no longer facing him.

"Fine, I guess I'll just have to prove to you otherwise," David whispered in her ear. "Prove to you that your resistance is futile. You have no free will, no independence. Your fate is up to me. The way God wanted it to be." He tightened his grip on Brennan and started to drag her from the room. She struggled a little, but knew that she needed to wait for a more opportune moment. Right now, she was surrounded and outnumbered. Any attempt at escape would most likely result in serious injury to herself. She had to be smart about this. She knew Booth would come get her, he always has in the past. _There was no reason to doubt him now, was there?_

David forced her up the stairs and into one of the bedrooms. It was a small room, just big enough for a full sized bed, an antique side table, and a tiny dresser. The blue and yellow wallpaper was starting to peel off the walls, revealing the rotting wood behind it. There was one window that overlooked the backyard. Brennan's eyes grew wide with panic when she realized that David was dragging her towards the bed.

"No!" She screamed as she fought to free herself from his tight grip. He had been holding her tight against his body, her back to his front. She lifted up her right leg and kicked his kneecap with all the strength she could muster.

David let out a cry of pain as he released his hold on her in order to grip his injured knee. Brennan ran towards the door as he screamed at her. "You fucking bitch! Get your ass back here! I'm not done with you yet! I haven't even begun to teach you a lesson. You belong to me!" As she opened the bedroom door, he jumped at her and tackled her to the ground. A couple of his male friends rushed in upon hearing all the commotion. "Grab her, don't let her go. She's a feisty one so be careful. Bring her over to the bed so I can show her who's in control. So I can teach her that she must do as I say because God gave her to me. We'll prove it to her until she realizes that she has no choice but to comply with my wishes."

The two males grabbed her and carried her over to the bed. They each held one hand on her shoulder pushing her down while their other hands grabbed her legs. As David started to climb on top of her, she kicked one of her legs free. Her foot landed on the right side of David's head, knocking him off of her. One of the other men regained his hold on her leg.

"You're gonna pay for that, you bitch!" David screamed at her as he got back up and brought one of his hands up to his head. He climbed back up onto the bed and started to roughly pull at her clothing.

"No!" Brennan protested. "Get off of me." She struggled, unsuccessfully, to free herself. David made quick work of removing her top, leaving her in just her bra and skirt. Just as he was about to pull her skirt off, they heard a shouting coming from downstairs. A few gunshots later, they heard someone walking up the stairs.

"Help!" Brennan tried to scream, but David's hand covered her mouth and cut her off. A few seconds later, the door opened. Brennan breathed out a sigh of relief upon seeing Booth standing in the doorway, his gun pointed at David.

"Get off of her. Now!" Booth demanded. "If you don't I will be forced to shoot you."

David chuckled. "A little jealous are we, Agent Booth? Jealous that she let me get to her first? That she wants to be here with me, instead of with you?" He ran his free hand over Brennan's body, as if to prove a point.

"If she really wanted to be here with you, you wouldn't need your two buddies there holding her down," Booth pointed out.

"Maybe she just likes it a little rough," David replied. "Maybe she likes when I forcefully take it from her. Maybe she likes screaming out in pain before I bring her relief. Makes the pleasure I bring her much more enjoyable."

"Don't think so," Booth said as he heard his partner's muffled sobs. "Now, let her go and nobody has to get hurt."

David nodded to one of his buddies, who let go of his grip on Brennan. The other man and David shifted so Brennan stayed confined to the bed. The man who had let go slowly got up off of the bed with his arms raised in a sign of defeat. Despite Booth's warnings, the man walked closer to Booth until he was within arms reach. Booth moved his gun to aim at the man. The man quickly kicked the gun out of Booth's hand and the two of them started throwing punches at one another.

Meanwhile, David resumed his activities with Brennan, using his weight to hold her down while he used his free hand to paw at her breasts. Brennan opened her mouth and bit the hand David had left resting on her lips. David once again cried out in pain, but quickly used his newly freed (and injured) hand to pull at her skirt. Brennan cried out in protest.

Hearing Brennan's cry gave Booth the strength he needed to incapacitate the man he had been fist-fighting with. Booth crawled over to his gun, picked it up, and aimed it at the man who was holding down Brennan's arms. One shot rang out, hitting the man in his shoulder and effectively wiping the sick grin from his face. He cried out in pain and let Brennan go in order to turn his attention to Booth. The man got up and lunged at Booth, but Booth shot him in the kneecap. The man fell to the floor. Booth aimed his gun at David, who still had Brennan trapped underneath him. Only this time, his hands were wrapped around her neck, cutting off her supply of air. Booth didn't take any time to think before squeezing the trigger. One final shot rang out and David's grip on Brennan loosened as his lifeless form fell on top of her.

Brennan quickly pushed David off of her and then looked around the room. She was careful not to let her tear-filled eyes look at Booth as she surveyed the aftermath of the night.

Booth walked over to the bed and grabbed Brennan's shirt. It was ripped to shreds, and wouldn't do her much good. Without either saying a word, Booth took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. After making a quick call to the FBI, Booth sat down on the bed next to her. She had yet to say anything, or to even look him in the eyes. He was getting really worried about her. "Are you okay? He didn't actually _do_ anything, did he?"

Brennan shook her head. She didn't trust her voice enough to say anything. After a few more minutes of silence, Brennan finally whispered something that was barely audible. "Thank you." She let a few more tears leak from her eyes.

Booth's heart broke at the sight in front of him. He had never seen his partner this upset, this vulnerable. He brought his index finger to her chin and used it to bring Brennan's eyes up to meet his own. Their eyes locked, concerned brown eyes meeting sad, soulful blue eyes. Brennan couldn't handle all of the emotions that seemed to have overwhelmed her just by looking in her partner's eyes. She finally broke down, letting Booth pull her into his arms. For what seemed like an eternity, Booth let Brennan cry in his arms. He even let out a few tears himself. Tears of sadness for what this beautiful, caring woman had went through. Tears of joy that he had gotten to her in time, and that she wasn't too stubborn to call him for help. And tears of anger at the man who had caused his partner so much pain. They were so wrapped up in each other that they barely registered when the FBI techs enter the room and begin to take the men into custody.

When Brennan's sobs began to fade, she pulled back and looked into Booth's eyes. She was about to apologize when one of the FBI agents walked over to get their statements. The agents took Booth and Brennan to separate rooms of the house to get them to rehash the night's events. It wasn't until an hour later that they saw each other again. Booth had been done for about 10 minutes, and he was standing near the front door making small talk with one of the techs. The moment he heard the creaking of the old farmhouse staircase, Booth's full attention was on his partner. She still had his jacket tightly wrapped around her tiny frame. She looked completely worn out, the night's events seemed to have taken every ounce of life from her. She was pale, and her gray-blue eyes stared into the distance, seeing nothing in particular. Her face no longer showed any sign of emotion, barring the tear stains and dark circles under her eyes.

She slowly made her way down the stairs and over to where Booth was standing. She looked up to Booth expectantly, still not saying a word. She expected him to be angry at her. Angry at her for not listening to him. Angry at her for putting her life in danger. Angry at her for being the reason he had to add yet another number to the list of lives he had taken.

"You ready to get out of here, Bones?" Booth asked, his concerned eyes searching hers. She merely nodded, unable to fathom the idea that he wasn't yelling at her or lecturing her about her choice in men. He wrapped his arm around her and led her out to his car. They drove in silence.

About 30 minutes later, Booth pulled up outside of Brennan's apartment complex. Brennan made quick work of unbuckling her seatbelt. She jumped out of the car, and she quickly ran across the parking lot and into the building. Booth followed behind her at a slower pace. Upon entering the building, he noticed that Brennan was not waiting for the elevator. She had taken the stairs. He ran up the stairs after her. When he got to her floor, he found her standing outside her apartment, staring at the door.

"Bones?"

She jumped, startled. She sniffled and wiped a tear from her eyes before turning her attention to Booth.

"Bones? What's wrong?" He walked up beside her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Um..." she began, "uh, I don't have the key." She looked back towards the door. "It must still be at the farmhouse, in my purse."

"Yeah, most likely collected as evidence," Booth stated. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his set of keys. "Luckily, I've got a key to your apartment right here." He smiled at her as he waved the keys in front of her. He walked up to the door and unlocked it. He pushed to door open and allowed Brennan to enter before following her inside.

"Booth?" Brennan asked tentatively, as she sat down on the couch in her living room.

Booth sat down beside her and looked her in the eyes. "Yeah?"

She broke eye contact and looked down at her hands, which were resting on her lap. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"You went through hell tonight, Bones. Do you really expect me to behave any differently?"

"Yes, it's irrational of you to be so calm towards me," Brennan argued. "Rationally speaking, you should be angry and upset with me. If I would've listened to what you told me this afternoon, none of this would've happened."

"Bones," Booth pleaded with her. He used his index finger to guide her eyes back up to his. "None of this is your fault. Understand? None of it."

She was silent for a few moments, her eyes searching his for the answer she was most desperately seeking. "You killed a man tonight. Because of me. You should hate me right now. Logically speaking, it was my fault."

"No, Bones, it wasn't," Booth said. "No one has the right to lay a hand on another person, let alone force them to do something against their will. You're my partner, Bones. I warned him that I would shoot if he continued with his actions. He didn't listen to me. I had no choice. He was either gonna rape or kill you. Probably both. I had no choice." Somehow during Booth's spiel, he had switched from trying to convince Brennan to trying to convince himself.

"You did the right thing, Booth."

"I know. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat. You mean too much to me. I can't stand the thought of something bad happening to you, Bones."

"I feel the same way. If our situations were reversed...I just..." she let her voice drop off, unable to complete that thought aloud. Booth understood perfectly nonetheless.

"Yeah, I get it," Booth said. He looked at the clock. It was already past 1 am. "Hey, look at the time. You should probably get some rest. Things will be better in the morning."

She nodded in agreement. "Yes, once I get a full night's rest I should be able to think with more clarity." She knew she wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight. She just didn't want him to worry about her.

Booth stood up from the couch. "Well then, I guess I should get going." He started to walk towards the door.

"Booth?" Brennan's voice was so quiet, she almost didn't think he'd be able to hear her.

"Yeah, Bones?" he asked as he paused at the door and turned to face her.

She took a deep breath before locking her eyes with his. "Stay. Please?"

One look into her eyes and Booth knew he couldn't resist. She was so sad and scared. At this moment she was no longer Dr. Brennan, the fearless anthropologist he had met a few years back. No. Now she was just Temperance, sad, scared, and feeling alone in this world. He knew it was his job to prove to her, every day for the rest of her life, that she would never be alone. She was loved, and would never again feel the pain caused by reckless abandonment.

**AN: So, this one-shot didn't quite go the way I had planned. It was my first one-shot, so I was a little bit nervous about posting it. Was it too long? Not any good? Let me know what ya think so I can incorporate your thoughts into future stories :D**


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